The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1887-09-01

rus cave. WINE the entrance was
| very narrow the chamber was at least
eight by twelve in size, and high enough
for me stand up in.
1t required only few seconds to take
| in what have told you, and the match
had just expired when heard a sniff and
a ''wOofP' at the entrance, and not only
smelt bear, but heard him. He had his
head in the hole, and / whirled my rifle
about and fired right into his face. The
roar he uttered shook the solid rock of the
cavern, and he drew back, tumbled around
in the gulch for two or three minutes and
then made off, whining with pain and
growing with anger as he went. When
could hear him no more / lighted another
match and looked for hairs on the rocks.
They were there in plenty, and they were
proofs that it was a cinnamon bear whom
I had turned out of house and home.
There We're a couple of loose rocks on the
floor of the den, and the first move made
was to roll them up and block the EN-
trance. While they did not fill the aper-
ture, they created an obstruction which
neither man nor bear could remove while
i was behind them.
In about twenty minutes the bear re-
turned, accompanied by his mate, and for
the next half hour they made lively work
for me. They were fercely determined to
get at me, and, as / did not wish to dis
charge my rifle again, for fear the report
would be heard by the Indians, I had to
resist them by jamming their heads with
the muzzle. The brutes gave it up at last
as bad job, but while the well one went
away the wounded one lay down exactly
in front of the entrance and licked his
wounds and uttered low growls. He had
put himself on guard, and he meant to
stay by until he had had revenge. / had
hastily gathered up small quantity Of
provisions when left camp, and. though
had no water, should not suffer much
for couple of days. The only thing
could do was to make myself as comfort
able as possible and wait for something to
turn up. 1 cared very little about the
bears, knowing that / could kill them off
at any time, but the Indians were to be
seriously considered. They would leave
no stone unturned to find my hiding place,
and once they found me, situated as / then
was, was a dead man.
There was no change in the situation
until about shutdown, when the other bear
returned, and a second attempt was made
to get at me. They were so determined
that had to use my revolver, firing four
shots, and, while neither of them was
killed, both were driven to fury by the
wounds. The one went off as before,
while the other lay down at the mouth of
the den, and the night passed without dis
turbance. l slept pretty well for man
in o bears den, but awOke just as day
light was filtering down into the gulch.
1t was q fierce roar from the bear which
aroused me. thought his mate had re-
{11rp nd hot oxx j
be made on my defenses, but was or, ckiy
set right. The bear started d.,wn the
gulch, and inside Of minrte T heard
shots and shouts. Then t,,,e roars of .
second bear were heed. and for five
minutes there was Q terrible commotion n
hundred feet below me. I could see dark
shadows struggling together, and I knew
the shouts came from Indians, but 7 was
not clear in the matter until the dayjg grew
stronger and the fight was over. Then ]
made out heap of dead.
1t was good hour before pulled away
the rocks and crawled out. I had figured
that the Indians had trailed me up the
gulch and been attacked by the bears, and
was right. / simply waited TO be sure
that all were dead. When finally crept
cautiously down to the heap I found the
two bears and three Indians in pile, and
each and all were growing cold in death
The bears had been shot and stabbed
again and again, but the redskins were a
sight to see. The flesh had literally been
stripped off their bones, and one of them,
whose body pulled out for the purpose
of examination, seemed to have every
bone crushed, while his neck was also
broken. -.
My mule had not been disturbed, nor
had they found my cache of furs. 1 took
the day 10 pack up, and got ready for a
long journey, and when night came 1
headed for the fort. got through With
out even sighting a redskin, and had
with me, as every man at the fort in 1867
will testify, the four Indian horses and
two Indian rifles in addition to my own
outft.-New York Sun.